Fox: Glasses-free 3D 'could stunt' format's growth

Work-in-progress tech shouldn't be allowed

Twentieth Century Fox believes that glasses-free 3D TV technology and poor real-time 2D to 3D conversion are doing more harm than good when it comes to showing 3D off in a good light.

Speaking at the PEVE conference in London, Danny Kaye, executive vice president, Global Research and Technology Strategy at Fox, said that 3D will thrive as a format but consumers need to see movies as the director intended them, and not filtered through below par TV technology.

Preaching to the converted

"As long as a film is made in high-quality, you may never tell the difference between a true 3D movie and a post-converted one," explained Kaye.

"But, what is harming the idea of 3D [for consumers] is real-time conversion.

Kaye: "We shouldn't stunt the growth of 3D by introducing techniques that don't show it off in the best light.

"Whether it is 2D to 3D conversion in real time on a TV set or versions of no-glasses 3D TVs… we do not need [these technologies] yet as they cannot match the quality of professional conversion services or the filmmaker shooting it in 3D to begin with."

Kaye is optimistic about the future of 3D but said it will take time: "3D is a very complicated technology to get right, it's not so hard to get wrong."

His biggest concern is that techniques such as glasses-free 3D and real-time conversion aren't helping in the perception of 3D to consumers.

Explained Kaye: "We shouldn't stunt the growth of 3D at this early stage by introducing techniques that do not show off 3D in the best light."